Education

As an educator, I work to meet my students where they are at and elevate them from there. My goal is to make songwriting, composition, and musical creativity available to all people, regardless of ‘perceived’ talent. I believe that all people, given the opportunity and a nurturing space, have something to say and the ability to say it. My responsibility as a teacher is to create a space that both recognizes and challenges students’ self-defined boundaries, helping them find their own creative path.

From 2014-2018, I was the Music Director at Lake of the Woods and Greenwoods Summer Camp. This program, which I helped launch and have overseen the development of, is songwriting based program that allows campers to write and record their own original recordings in a fully working, professional studio. From 2016-2017, I was a Visiting Lecturer with the Royal Birmingham Junior Conservatoire, where I taught music theory and maintained a composition studio. While at RBC, I was a co-director of the Young Composers Project, a program that connected young composers from the West Midlands area with composition students at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire. This project included collaborations with Judith Weir, Joe Cutler, and Errollyn Wallen, among others and resulted in the creation and premiere of dozens of new works. I have a long standing relationship with the Society for New Music in Syracuse, NY, where I’ve led their Young Composers Corner program, which introduces composition to first time composers. In addition, I have led masterclasses, including one on text setting with Pulitzer Prize winning poet, Stephen Dunn, at Syracuse University, Lafayette College, and in high schools. Since 2017, I have worked as a teaching fellow with the Redhouse Arts Organization.

Chris Cresswell

Composer/Guitarist

For commissions or other information:Contact Trudy Chan atBlack Tea MusicTC@blackteamusic.com